Social justice: The unseen key pillar in disaster risk management

Background: Injustice in societies affects all phases of disaster risk management (DRM). This scoping review aims to determine the definition and characteristics of social justice in disasters, as well as its determinants and impacts. Methods: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Proquest were searched for relevant articles during February-July 2022. Search terms were social justice, social inequality, social equality, social equity, social inequity, disaster, emergency, catastrophe, and incident. Studies were selected based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data analysis were done based on descriptive and thematic analyses. Results: Thirty three articles were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the majority of which were qualitative studies, done in the United States, and published in 2020-2021. Results showed that there isn't an agreed definition for social justice in disasters. Therefore, a definition for social justice in disasters was suggested. Social justice is equity in worth, rights, resource distribution, and consequences in all phases of DRM in societies. Determinants identified that affect social justice in disasters were: institutional, social, economic, environmental, physical, and cultural. The impacts were human dignity, absence of discrimination, good governance, equity, sustainability, resiliency, and human rights. Conclusion: There is need to set a unified definition for social justice in DRM. There is need to shift in the paradigm in research and policy making about DRM to be based on social justice. Further studies are needed to develop a common conceptual framework for social justice in disasters.